Who are we?
We are a student-led campaign asking the University of Freiburg to reduce its impact on the climate and ecological crises while shifting public opinion in favour of a plant-based food system.
What are we asking for?
We're not asking for a dietary change, but rather institutional divestment from environmentally damaging industries. How? By transitioning to a 100% plant-based menu. As a scientific institution, the University of Freiburg has a strong societal standing and its leadership is key in the face of climate change.
Why?
Meat, fish farming, eggs and dairy products take up around 83% of global agricultural land and are responsible for 56 to 58% of all greenhouse gas emissions from food production. At the same time, they provide only 37% of our proteins and around 18% of our calories (Poore & Nemecek, 2018). In other words, the current food system based on animal products is highly inefficient - especially from a climate perspective.
Food system changes represent a big opportunity to save countless species and absorb massive amounts of carbon. A study from Harvard found that a plant-based food system would free up 76% of global farmland, an area the size of Europe, China, India and Australia combined. In total, a shift to a plant-based food system would reduce emissions by 14.7GT Co2e each year, twice as much as the entire global transport sector (Ourworldindata).